Sworn at while taking photographs

[cliveh]

In all the years I have been taking photographs, I can only recall two incidents when I was told to F*** Off. One was on the isle of Aran off the west coast of southern Ireland and the other was by a farmer in Cornwall. Can others recall incidents of hostility when taking photographs.

 

[MattKing]

Certainly differs from one's experience while moderating a photographic forum.
I've sometimes encountered discomfort and reluctance, but no clear examples of hostility.
A friend recently took a workshop in New York from Bruce Gilden - I wonder what he might say in this thread!

 

[Rick A]

I was photographing in a cemetery some years back when the care taker came running at me yelling "what the F*** are you doing?" I explained what I had (large format camera} and let him look under the focus cloth. He calmed way down and allowed me free run of the property.

 

[mshchem]

I've encountered a couple of security guards, one I was in the parking lot of a large factory that I worked for. I had just come off the nature trail. He was convinced my RZ was a video camera and I was recording company secrets .
He chilled after I told him I was an employee.
Usually it's a territorial thing. People think I'm working for the other side.

 

[Dali]

Last August in NYC when a young jogging woman told be to f*ck off and gave me the finger. Did take the picture though...

 

[koraks]

One was on the isle of Aran off the west coast of southern Ireland

I once visited that island. Very pretty. Took many photos, but did not get sworn at. I suppose the sheep didn't mind.
In fact, I don't think I've every been actually told off. Treated with some suspicion, a couple of times - yes. But rarely so. I don't photograph people, much. I think that's the main reason.

 

[Paul Howell]

Shooting news as a PJ I was often sworn at, unpleasant but not as dangerous when I was shot at. When an Air Force Combat photographer I was armed and did engage in combat as needed. When I worked for the wires, I was press, we were not allowed to carry arms. What was worse at least when I was Air Force photopgraher everyone knew whos side I was on. When a JP, both sides hated us, thinking were taking the others side.

 

[jeffreyg]

Once very many years ago on a country road in France I passed a colorful “gypsy” wagon being pulled by a couple of ponies. I pulled up ahead and got out to take just a snapshot to show our then young children. As they approached the driver covered his face and ended up bumping a car that had also stopped. While they were yelling at each other, his teenaged son ran over and grabbed my car outside mirror. While my wife was yelling at him, his father secured the wagon, ran over and jumped on the hood of our car banging on the windshield with his fist. I showed him some money and slightly lowered my window. He got off and I threw the money out. I popped the clutch and took off and joked with my wife that I thought he put a curse on us. Shortly later while riding behind a school bus it flipped up a stone and shattered our windshield. To make matters worse it started raining. We did manage to get a new one put in after getting drenched. That night we had trouble finding a hotel but managed to get a room in what was as best a dump We weren’t sure when the sheets were last washed so we slept in our clothes. There was no food available but we happened to have an apple that we split for dinner. The next day we stayed at a top notch hotel in the town of Brive . We told the people there of our experience and they said be careful of the “nomads” they can cut your throat

 

[cliveh]

Once very many years ago on a country road in France I passed a colorful “gypsy” wagon being pulled by a couple of ponies. I pulled up ahead and got out to take just a snapshot to show our then young children. As they approached the driver covered his face and ended up bumping a car that had also stopped. While they were yelling at each other, his teenaged son ran over and grabbed my car outside mirror. While my wife was yelling at him, his father secured the wagon, ran over and jumped on the hood of our car banging on the windshield with his fist. I showed him some money and slightly lowered my window. He got off and I threw the money out. I popped the clutch and took off and joked with my wife that I thought he put a curse on us. Shortly later while riding behind a school bus it flipped up a stone and shattered our windshield. To make matters worse it started raining. We did manage to get a new one put in after getting drenched. That night we had trouble finding a hotel but managed to get a room in what was as best a dump We weren’t sure when the sheets were last washed so we slept in our clothes. There was no food available but we happened to have an apple that we split for dinner. The next day we stayed at a top notch hotel in the town of Brive . We told the people there of our experience and they said be careful of the “nomads” they can cut your throat

My god that is horrendous.

 

[koraks]

My god that is horrendous.

Great story though!

 

[Tel]

A couple of weeks ago I was walking around South Bend, Indiana with my grandson, taking pictures of some derelict buildings. A man got out of a nearby truck and shouted to me, “Are you taking pictures?” I said I was and he came over to us and explained that he owned the building (with ornate porcelain tiles all over it) and that it was being torn down because of structural problems but that he was saddened by having to tear it down. What followed was twenty minutes of local history lessons. We left both better informed and substantially uplifted by the friendliness of the guy.

I’ve also spent time on Inis Mór in the Arans and was never treated with anything but courtesy there. But that was 20 years ago...

 

[Alex Benjamin]

In all the years I have been taking photographs, I can only recall two incidents when I was told to F*** Off. One was on the isle of Aran off the west coast of southern Ireland and the other was by a farmer in Cornwall. Can others recall incidents of hostility when taking photographs.

This is fascinating. What is it with the camera? Everybody—I mean EV·RY·BO·DY!—has a phone. And everybody is surronded by people with a phone. And all these phones are constantly taking pictures—of the people holding the phone (mostly, alas), of the people with the people holding the phone, of the people's food, car, drinks, dogs, of the street they're walking on, of the whatever they're thinking of buying, etc. Chances are every Photrio member who's spent some time in a reasonably populated city is on more than one of these photos, unknowingly.

This doesn't bother people.

But take a camera out, and all of a sudden you're invading their privacy. (Well, sometimes you are, but that's another story).

The other day I was in a very chic part of town, photographing houses with the Pentax 6x7. Part of a project I'm working on. I was deliberately making myself visible, not trying to hide what I was doing. One of the neighbors was working on his lawn. I could feel him looking at me with suspicion. Sure enough, he comes to me, not too agressive, but not too friendly either. Asks me why I'm photographing houses in the neighborhood. I tell him I'm studying architecture and writing a book on the architecture of Montreal's suburbian neighborhoods. A total lie, but one that I've found quite effective, since this happens a lot (just lucky I haven't run into an actual architect).

He relaxes, and we chat a little. He tells me there's been a lot of burglaries in the neighborhood, and that's why he got suspicious. I showed him the Pentax and told him that if I was stalking the place, I would have been a bit more discreet. Told him that he should worry much more if he sees a guy dressed like him, looking like he belonged here, and holding a cellphone.

Another time, in a very different part of town, I started bringing the camera to my eyes, but stopped short. Saw a few people looking at me suspiciously. It was a street filled with car body shops. I was willing to bet that a few cars there didn't belong there. Got back on the scooter and left. There's some hostility I'd rather not deal with.

 

[guangong]

People are my favorite subject and have never encountered any problems. I both photograph and sketch. I do try to be inconspicuous or appear to be interested in something else while taking pictures. On a couple occasions I pretended to have trouble with my Rollei and took pictures using waist level finder. Nowadays, with ubiquitous cell phones, I feel that people are less self conscious about being photographed. If someone reacts to taking their photo, give them a complement. My friend, the late Louie Stettner was able to put his camera almost to their nose, but he had such a happy-go-lucky way about himself, that the subjects seemed pleased to be photographed. I could never pull that off.

 

[Arthurwg]

Some of this is inevitable. Perhaps it goes back to the primitive idea that a photo captures one's soul. My partner Barbara was screamed at and chased in Morocco. She was also chastised in France for taking a picture of an older prosperous looking gent walking with a much younger woman who was probably his mistress. I was yelled at once in France, and again when using a cell phone in NYC. But so far, shots have not been fired.

 

[GRHazelton]

Several years ago I was enjoying a crab festival in Port Royal, SC, wonderful food, some bands, a lot of fun. I was shooting with my Pentax K10d, big black camera. A woman in her 40s, perhaps, accosted me and demanded that her picture not appear in "the newspaper." I had to convince her that I wasn't shooting for "the newspaper." She then grumbled off..... Had I been using a cell phone she would have ignored me, I think. I wonder if she was perhaps at the festival with someone she shouldn't have been with......

 

[foc]

One was on the isle of Aran off the west coast of southern Ireland

There are always grumpy, inhosipital people on any island, small or big.

Irish people swear a lot but in Ireland, the expression F**k can have different meanings, depending on the context it was used.


"Would you ever go and f**k off" = "Go away and leave me along".

"Go away to f**k ! or f**k off !" = "I don't believe you! or (depending on contex) Just go away".

"You will in your f**k" = "You will not"

A milder form of the word that can be used is Feck.


There are many more, but you get the jist.

 

[loccdor]

Hostility has mainly been from adult deer (male and female) when there were fawns around. They chased me out of woods stomping their feet on two occasions. Seems pretty random, there are times when I can get very close with no problems. It may be related to their hormonal shifts certain times of year.

And, I think I got the police called on me once when I was framing up an abandoned gas station by a busy road. I was about to press the shutter button and a police car suddenly parked right in the center of the shot. I didn't stick around to ask about it, figured I'd have a chance another day. Wasn't long until it was demolished.

 

[guangong]

Hostility has mainly been from adult deer (male and female) when there were fawns around. They chased me out of woods stomping their feet on two occasions. Seems pretty random, there are times when I can get very close with no problems. It may be related to their hormonal shifts certain times of year.

And, I think I got the police called on me once when I was framing up an abandoned gas station by a busy road. I was about to press the shutter button and a police car suddenly parked right in the center of the shot. I didn't stick around to ask about it, figured I'd have a chance another day. Wasn't long until it was demolished.

By moving very slowly, stopping in mid movement when deer looks up, I have been able to get rather close…as a game, not for pictures…but slowlynretreat when deer scraps ground. I did this a couple times just to see how close I could get before deer noticed. Apparently a dear’s defenses are acute hearing and detecting movement. However, a deer’s hooves are dangerous weapons.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Shooting news as a PJ I was often sworn at, unpleasant but not as dangerous when I was shot at. When an Air Force Combat photographer I was armed and did engage in combat as needed. When I worked for the wires, I was press, we were not allowed to carry arms. What was worse at least when I was Air Force photopgraher everyone knew whos side I was on. When a JP, both sides hated us, thinking were taking the others side.

I notice the individual photographer in the USAF gets photo credit at the caption of each photo. Is that standard practice in all services and is there a philosophy about it?

 

[loccdor]

By moving very slowly, stopping in mid movement when deer looks up, I have been able to get rather close…as a game, not for pictures…but slowlynretreat when deer scraps ground. I did this a couple times just to see how close I could get before deer noticed. Apparently a dear’s defenses are acute hearing and detecting movement. However, a deer’s hooves are dangerous weapons.

Yes, it's usually the very large deer that do this, the others are timid and run away. Except that the very youngest fawns are sometimes so innocent that they will approach you close out of curiosity and a lack of fear, especially if you break eye contact and seem uninterested in them.

 

[Milpool]

I haven’t been sworn at (because I’m mostly photographing during off hours and don’t want people in my pictures anyway) but I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with overzealous security people and police when photographing the urban landscape. This is one of the lasting consequences of 9/11.

 

[snusmumriken]

I'm surprised I haven't been sworn at, because I find it difficult to maintain a genial demeanour: my 'resting bitch face' - as my daughter calls it - is solemn, the more so when I'm concentrating. Trying to be unobserved can look a bit dodgy anyway.

Long ago, I took a shot of some girls who were sitting around in town enjoying a chat in the sunshine. The light was lovely, as were the girls. After I moved on, they came mob-handed yelling and chasing after me, asking me to delete the shot. Turned out they were all supposed to be at work in various places. I was using film, so could only promise never to use the shot, a promise I have kept.

 

[NiallerM]

It depends where you are. People in some parts of continental Europe essentially have a form of copyright in their appearance, so can get grumpy at being photographed without permission. The immediate transition to grumpiness or even anger is not because they perceive that you are about to commit a transgression, but because in their mind you probably already have.

There is much more of a premium on personal privacy in Europe than has been my experience in the US. In fact, where I am, even shop-owners cannot use CCTV which points onto any area other than inside their own shop. They cannot stray towards the pavement or any public area, and they must prominently display not simply a notice that says that CCTV is in operation, but also their licence to prove that they are allowed to operate it.

Privacy laws and protection are quite restrictive, and a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy if they are in a public place.

It's very much a culturally embedded expectation.

 

[NiallerM]

I should add that it is a bit more now than merely a cultural expectation. Images are considered to be data, so it is also a protection which has solid and firm legislative underpinnings. If you took my picture in a French Street, I would be entitled to demand that you delete it. If you are using film, then you'd best know how to rewind for double exposure. Not that I personally would go that far, but someone else could.

In practice, I've found that if I'm using my Fujifilm mirrorless, the bigger lenses are a statement. Ironically, when you are seen to be obviously taking pictures, those in frame are generally giving you informal consent. Sometimes, in the frame you'll notice later that a couple of people have concealed their faces. Sometimes you get people staring at the camera.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

It depends where you are. People in some parts of continental Europe essentially have a form of copyright in their appearance, so can get grumpy at being photographed without permission. The immediate transition to grumpiness or even anger is not because they perceive that you are about to commit a transgression, but because in their mind you probably already have.

There is much more of a premium on personal privacy in Europe than has been my experience in the US. In fact, where I am, even shop-owners cannot use CCTV which points onto any area other than inside their own shop. They cannot stray towards the pavement or any public area, and they must prominently display not simply a notice that says that CCTV is in operation, but also their licence to prove that they are allowed to operate it.

Privacy laws and protection are quite restrictive, and a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy if they are in a public place.

It's very much a culturally embedded expectation.

Indeed, the laws regarding right of privacy and right of image are quite restrictive in Canada, France, Germany, and many other countries. This has been discussed in another thread not too long ago.

The US is actually unique *****

This is why the "cultural embedded expectation" regarding public space is very different whether you're in (or from) the US or elsewhere. Elsewhere, as you mention, one is entitled to expect privacy even in a public space.

Should be specified that the restrictions defined the laws regarding righ of image relate to publishing photos (including posting on the web), not taking the photo (although there are a few exceptions, as in the German law forbidding photographing people if there are in a vulnerable—as in an accident—or humiliating situation).

{Moderator's note - portions deleted about differences in local laws, because inevitably they inspired political responses.}